Tuning pin for piano

ABSTRACT

To facilitate alignment of tuning pin of a piano with a string to be anchored to the pin, when the pin is to be driven into a wrest plank, the tuning pin is provided with a recess or protrusion which is indicative of or in alignment with an aperture through which the string is anchored to the pin. The recess or protrusion may be located at the top or bottom end or in an outer peripheral wall of an intermediate portion of the tuning pin.

l United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,869,953 Tatebe Mar. 11, 1975 TUNING PIN FOR PIANO 903,086 11/1908 Hebingbothom 84/201 3,156,151 111964 A d 842 1 [75] Inventor: Horoshi Tatebe, Hamamatsu, Japan n men I 0 [73] Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha, l-lamamatsu-shi, Japan Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-Vit W. Miska [22] Flled' 1973 Attorney, Agent, or FirmHans Berman [21] App]. No.: 425,222

. Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 278,010, Aug. 4, 1972. [57] ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 5, 1971 Japan 46-70185 To facilitate alignment of tuning P of a Piano with a string to be anchored to the pin, when the pin is to be [52 U.S. c1. 84/201, 84/200 driven into a wrest plank, the tuning p n is p i d 51 1m. 01 Gl0c 3/10 with a recess or protrusion which is indicative f r in [58] Field of Search 84/200-205, alignment with an aperture through which the String is 34/203 anchored to the pin. The recess or protrusion may be located at the top or bottom end or in an outer periph- 5 References Cited era] wall of an intermediate portion of the tuning pin,

UNITED STATES PATENTS 727,589 5/1903 Clevenger 84/200 4 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures P/JENTED Fig.2

PRIOR ART sum 2 Hf 4 'Fig 3 PRIOR. ART

PATENTEUHW 11975 7 7%. 869.953

- sum 3 Q5 9 Fig.5

PRIOR ART TUNING PIN FOR PIANO This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 278,010 filed Aug. 4, 1972.

The present invention relates to pianos and, more particularly, to wrest or tuning pins of the pianos.

In stringing a piano, it is a usual practice to have a number of tuning pins fitted into a string plate and an underlying wrest plank or pin block and to have piano wires or strings stretched between these tuning pins and associated hitch pins which are also fast on the wrest plank. The tuning pins are formed with apertures through which the strings are passed and coiled around the tuning pins. To provide ease of stretching the strings between the tuning pins and the associated hitch pins, it is important that the apertures in the individual tuning pins be aligned in the directions of the strings secured to the pins. Since, in this instance, the prior art tuning pins are provided with no markings or indications of the directions of the apertures in the pins, it is presently a usual practice to first drive the pins into the wrest plank by the use ofa pin-driving machine to take thereafter the alignment of the apertures in the tuning pins with the respective strings through visual observation so that disproportionately large amounts of time and labour as well as highly professional skills have been necessitated in stringing or tuning the piano.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a tuning pin of a piano with an index, whereby the tuning pin or more strictly the aperture therein can be readily and exactly aligned with the string secured to the pin in the course of stringing or tuning the piano.

This object of the present invention is accomplished by an index mark constituted by a contoured portion which is located at the axial end faces or in an outer peripheral wall of an intermediate or stem portion of the pin and which extends in' alignment with or at a predetermined angle to the aperture in the pin relative to the longitudinal axis of the pin.

The features and advantages of the tuning pin embodying the present invention will become more appar ent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts and portions throughout the figures and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view ofa strung frame on a wrest plank of an upright piano;

FIG. 2 is a side end view showing, on an enlarged scale, a typical example of a tuning of known configuration;

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken on line III-III of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view showing the prior art tuning pin mounted on the pin plate and wrest plank;

FIG. 5 is a top end view showing an arrangement in which strings are anchored to the tuning pins of the conventional configuration;

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a preferred embodiment of the tuning pin according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a cross section on line VII--VII of FIG. 6;

FIGS. 8 to 14 are fragmentary side views showing various modifications of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 15 is a cross sectional view taken on line XV-XV of FIG. 14.

Reference is first made to FIG. 1, in which reference numerals l0 and 12 respectively indicate a sound board and a metal string plate attached to a framework (not shown) of the upright piano. The string plate 12 carries thereon a set of hitch pins 14 and a set of tuning or wrest pins 16 which are respectively in association with the hitch pins 14. Piano wires or strings stretched between the hitch and tuning pins 14 and 16 respectively. Each of the conventional tuning pins 16 has an elongated configuration which is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and is solid, that is, essentially free of internal cavities. As herein illustrated, the tuning pin 16 has a tapered upper portion 16a having a generally squareshaped section and helically threaded portions 1612 which are adapted to prevent the pin from rotating from the prescribed position about its longitudinal axis and being released by the tension in the string to be anchored to the pin. The lower end portion of the pin 16 is usually rounded as'indicated at 160. The tuning pin 16 is further formed with an aperture 20 extending substantially diametrically through the pin 16 and opened at its opposite ends as better seen in FIG. 5.

The tuning pin 16 having the above described prior art configuration is driven into a pin block or wrest plank 21 through a hole 22 formed in the string plate 12 with its upper portion projecting outwardly from the plate 12, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The strings 18 are anchored to the respective tuning pins 16 with their end portions partly inserted into the apertures 20 in the pins as indicated by reference numeral 18a and partly coiled around the pins as indicated by reference numeral 18b in FIG. 5.

To facilitate stretching of the strings 18 between the respective hitch and tuning pins 14 and 16, it is important that the individual tuning pins 16 be driven into the string plate 12 and wrest plank 21 in such a manner that the pins are positioned with their apertures 20 held in parallel alignment with the strings 18 which are anchored to the pins as pointed out previously. In the absence of markings or indications of the directions of the apertures 20 in the pins 16, it has been required to have the individual pins 16 aligned with the associated strings 18 by visual inspection with use of a tool called the tuning hammer after the pins have been driven in arrays into the string plate 12 and wrest plank 21. Since a piano of the ordinary type usually has as many as from 220 (in the upright type) to 240 (in the grand concert type) tuning pins and since the apertures in the tuning pins usually have a diameter of 1.5 to 1.6 millimeter, extremely large amounts of time and labour plus highly professional skills are indispensable in stringing and tuning the piano. As previously noted, the present invention contemplates elimination of these drawbacks of the prior art tuning pins through provision of a contoured portion which is indicative of or in agreement with the direction of the aperture in the tuning pin. The contoured portion may be formed at the top and/or bottom ends of the tuning pin or, otherwise, in a pcripheral wall of an intermediate or stem portion of the pm. i

A first preferred embodiment of the tuning pin according to the present invention is now illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. The solid body of the tuning pin 16 is provided with a recess 24 which is formed in the top end face of the pin and which is elongated parallel to the aperture or bore 20 in the pin. The recess 24 should have a size which can be readily and clearly recognized by a tuning operator. As an alternative to the recess 24 thus formed, an extension or rib 26 may be formed at the top of the tuning pin 16 as seen in FIG. 8. Where 18 are tautly '3 otherwise preferred, the recess or extension may be formed at the bottom end of the tuning pin 16, as indicated by reference numeral 24' or 26 in FIGS. 9 and 10, respectively. I FIG. 11 illustrates another preferred embodiment of the tuning pin according to the present invention, wherein a recess 28 is longitudinally or axially aligned with one open end of the aperture and thus indicative of the location of the aperture in a peripheral, axial wall of the upper portion of the tuning pin 16. FIGS. 12 and 13 show still other preferred embodiments of the tuning pin according to the present invention, wherein an elongated recess extending longitudinally of the pin 16 or a hole 32 opening in the same direction as the aperture 20 in the pin is formed in the outer peripheral wall of an intermediate or stem portion of the pin. The recess 30 or hole 32 should be sufficiently larger than the aligned aperture 20 so as to enable the tuning operator to readily and exactly recognize the direction of the aperture. The hole 32 may be of generally cylindrical configuration as seen in FIG. 13 or may be rounded at its bottom as seen in FIGS. 14 and 15.

Although the recess or protrusion to be formed in the tuning pin embodying the present invention has been.

described as being aligned with the aperture in the pin, such is merely by way of example and, thus, the recesss or protrusion may be directed at a right angle or at any desired angle to the aperture insofar as the direction and/or configuration of the recess or protrusion is indicative of the direction of the aperture.

It will now be appreciated from the foregoing description that the individual tuning pins can be accurately positioned relative to the strings before they are driven into the wrest plank and accordingly that the repeated operations which have thus far been necessitated for setting the tuning pins into alignment with the associated strings are now dispensed with or at least minimized. The tuning pin according to the present inventionis thus useful for significantly reducing the amounts of time and labour and the professional skills which have heretoforebeen required in stringing or tuning the piano usingthe usual tuningpins.

What is claimed is:

l. A plurality of tuning pins for a piano,

a. each of said pins essentially consisting of an elongated body having a longitudinal axis and two longitudinally spaced end faces transverse to said axis,

b. said body being formed with a bore diametrically therethrough adjacent one of said faces and remote from the other face,

c. a first portion of said body being axially defined by said bore and said one end face,

d. a second portion of said body being axially defined by said bore and said other end face,

c. said one end face carrying an elongated index m'ark extending across said one end face transversely of said axis and indicative of the angular position of said bore relative to said axis,

f. the spatial relationship of said bore'and of said index mark being the same in each of said pins,

g. said second portion carrying threads about said axis.

2. A plurality of tuning pins as set forth in claim 1, wherein said index mark and said bore are elongated in a common radial direction relative to said axis.

3. A plurality of tuning pins as set forth in claim 2, wherein said one end face is formed with a recess constituting said index mark.

4. A plurality of tuning pins as set forth in claim 2, wherein said one end face is formed with a rib constituting said index mark.

and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 308690953 Dated Mardh 11, 1975 Inventor) HIROSHI TATEBE It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent shown below:

In the heading, line [727, change "Horoshi" to Hiroshi Signed and sealed this 10th day of June 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. MARSHALL DANN Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks RUTH c. MASON Attesting' Officer pa ent No, 3,869,953 Dated March 11, 1975 Inv HIROSHI TA'IEBE It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the heading, line 527, change "Horoshi" to Hiroshi Signed and sealed this 10th day of June 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C. MASON Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer and Trademarks 

1. A plurality of tuning pins for a piano, a. each of said pins essentially consisting of an elongated body having a longitudinal axis and two longitudinally spaced end faces transverse to said axis, b. said body being formed with a bore diametrically therethrough adjacent one of said faces and remote from the other face, c. a first portion of said body being axially defined by said bore and said one end face, d. a second portion of said body being axially defined by said bore and said other end face, e. said one end face carrying an elongated index mark extending across said one end face transversely of said axis and indicative of the angular position of said bore relative to said axis, f. the spatial relationship of said bore and of said index mark being the same in each of said pins, g. said second portion carrying threads about said axis.
 1. A plurality of tuning pins for a piano, a. each of said pins essentially consisting of an elongated body having a longitudinal axis and two longitudinally spaced end faces transverse to said axis, b. said body being formed with a bore diametrically therethrough adjacent one of said faces and remote from the other face, c. a first portion of said body being axially defined by said bore and said one end face, d. a second portion of said body being axially defined by said bore and said other end face, e. said one end face carrying an elongated index mark extending across said one end face transversely of said axis and indicative of the angular position of said bore relative to said axis, f. the spatial relationship of said bore and of said index mark being the same in each of said pins, g. said second portion carrying threads about said axis.
 2. A plurality of tuning pins as set forth in claim 1, wherein said index mark and said bore are elongated in a common radial direction relative to said axis.
 3. A plurality of tuning pins as set forth in claim 2, wherein said one end face is formed with a recess constituting said index mark. 